French wine is best known for big Bordeaux and crisp Burgundies, and less so for the sweet, fragrant Gewürztraminer wine produced in the Alsace region, on the French-German border. While contemplating what to drink Gewürztraminer with, also think about what bottle to serve with a Chinese or Indian dish.

What is Gewürztraminer?

I previously recommended a Czech pilsner to partner with the oriental lamb medallions; beer is a good fallback when you’re struggling to match drink with Chinese or Indian food, but Gewürztraminer offers a very elegant solution.

Though the name Gewürz means spicy, it’s actually perfumed and sweet, with exotic lychee, rose-petal notes. Seldom oaked but musky and expressive, Gewürztraminer is the perfect oddball to solve the wine-pairing problem thrown up by a chilli-soy-garlic-plum glaze.

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Gewürztraminer has rich honey-suckle notes that work beautifully with the jammy, plummy pork. The Wine Society also stock a Chilean Gewürztraminer, made from grapes grown on the cool banks of the Bío-Bío River, which is excellent value at just £6.50 a bottle.

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